The active total of COVID-19 cases is continuing to rise at a fast pace in Fort McMurray.

The province announced on Friday 1,690 new cases in the province over the past 24 hours.

There are currently 19,446 active cases across Alberta, while there have been a total of 178,777 positive tests. There are also 549 Albertans in the hospital for the virus, 125 of which are in ICUs.

Locally, Fort McMurray added 109 new cases and 56 recoveries in the past 24 hours which raises the active total to 992.

The rural areas added two new cases, raising the total of active cases to 22.

Wood Buffalo National Park remains at zero active cases.

The region remains the worst in the province when it comes to spread of the virus.

The RMWB is averaging nearly 1,215 cases per 100,000 individuals.

The closest is Banff which is averaging over 100 fewer cases per 100,000 people.

In total, 2,471 individuals across the RMWB – 2,316 in Fort McMurray, 145 in the rural areas, and 10 in Wood Buffalo National Park – have recovered.

They are among the 157,272 who’ve recovered across the province. This represents just under 88 per cent of reported cases.

There were also five new deaths from COVID-19 in Alberta over the past 24 hours – raising the total at 2,059.

To date, four individuals in Fort McMurray have died as a result of the virus.